WASHINGTON -- The United States should try to steer China onto a path that protects U.S. interests by working to integrate the rising power into the international community, the Council on Foreign Relations said Tuesday.
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A task force report by China experts and former U.S. officials also urged Washington to restore a fraying domestic consensus on U.S.-China relations and to educate Americans to compete in a globalized economy.
"Further integrating China into the global community offers the best hope of shaping China's interests and conduct in accordance with international norms on security, trade and finance, and human rights, and encouraging collaboration to confront the challenges both countries face," said the report.
The task force — headed by former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills and Adm. Dennis Blair, former commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command — endorsed the U.S. goal of making China a "responsible stakeholder" that was set out by the Bush administration in 2005.
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The United States needed to be firm with China on Taiwan, trade and other sensitive issues while pursuing "strategies that maximize the areas of common interest with China and minimize areas where interests diverge," the report said.
"At times, the United States will need to communicate to China that irresponsible or aggressive behavior will meet strong opposition and injure China's core national interests," the task force said.
But the task force, comprised of 30 China experts and former U.S. officials, emphasized the need to deepen engagement with the Chinese, working with key European and Asian allies toward common economic, security and political goals.
U.S. criticism of China "should be quiet and persistent, rather than public and loud," Blair said in a briefing on the report.
CLARITY ON TAIWAN
The task force recommended the United States create a plan to integrate China into the G-8.
"When China becomes a member of these international groups, it does affect their behavior," Hills told reporters.
Washington should seek membership in the East Asia Summit and observer status at the Shanghai Cooperative Organization — groups that exclude the United States, it said.
On Taiwan, the self-governing island over which Beijing claims sovereignty, "China should understand clearly that the United States does not rule out using force to thwart any Chinese attempt to compel unification through force," the report said.
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"Similarly, the United States should make clear to Taiwan's government that Washington does not support Taiwan independence and that Taiwan cannot count on U.S. military intervention if it provokes a crisis."
Broader security issues in Asia should be addressed by sustaining American U.S. space, air and naval superiority and strengthening the U.S.-led alliance system while promoting military and strategic nuclear dialogue with China, it said.
The task force said the United States should "broaden the discussions regarding China's need to permit its currency to move in response to market forces" while working to raise Chinese compliance with World Trade Organization rules.
Critics said the 110-page report took too benign a view of China's political system, its trade and military policies and its international behavior.
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